The Heart of the Blade
by Qu33n 0f N3rds
Summary: Humans are said to have originated on Coruscant, but that may only be partially true… The Republic meets the Separatists in battle to protect the origins of the Jedi Order on a new found planet called Earth. (Rewrite of To Protect and Defend)
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone. :) So, here's the beginning of the rewrite of _To Protect and Defend. _Again, apologies to all my readers. I promise I'll try to keep updating this in a timely manner. I have motivation now at least, now that I know people like my stuff. XD **

**A note on the cover art, I did draw this. =P Ahsoka looks kind of like an anime character, but whatever. This will be the story's permanent cover unless I get an idea for a new one. :)**

**So without further ado, here is the prologue. :) **

Words cannot express how excited I am right now. I apologize to whoever may be reading this if none of this makes sense. I have to get this all down. I'm using one of The Visitor's "computer" things. It's taken me quite some time to get used to it, but I think I can manage now. It really is amazing this thing I'm using here. There's no need to hand write anything out and apparently you can duplicate whatever you're writing as many times as you'd like with absolutely no effort involved. They tried to explain "digital documents" to me, but it's all over my head. I still am having trouble processing the idea that books are rare on Earth because they're so hard to make, and rare on the planet of The Visitors because they're just inconvenient and waste paper. Imagine! So many books that paper is wasted! It's incredible!

But I should start from the beginning.

Six months or so ago this thing fell out of the sky and crashed somewhere near London. Of course everyone was panicking, so the King took an army to investigate. They found these people climbing out of this strange silvery thing. Turns out it hadn't crashed at all, just landed (though it did look like it was crashing.) These people came out of the silvery thing and told the King and his men that they meant us no harm. They said they were from space. Space! Then the King called for the bishop and he and The Visitors spent a good long while arguing about whether or not our planet was the only one in the sky. Then the strangers produced these strange images that we all thought were paintings. The Visitors explained that they weren't. They were called "photographs" and they captured the image of things exactly as they were. Like instant paintings.

This scared everyone and the King had The Visitors thrown into prison. Then he called for all the soothsayers in the kingdom to come and talk to these strangers. That's where I came in. See, I belong to an order of monks. We call ourselves The Order. We're not like Christian monks. We're much more interesting than that. Some of us are warriors. Some of us, like me, are soothsayers who see the future. Some of us are healers. We all have one thing in common though. We can all manipulate this invisible force that is invisible to many people here. It's in and around everything on this planet, but only people like us can see that. We can lift things, see the future, heal injuries, jump higher and move faster than other people, perceive moves before people make them. With all that power, you would think we'd be tyrants, but we hold ourselves to a strict moral code. We live in poverty and use our powers only for good.

This isn't a rare thing, either. We've found that many people have the potential to do what we do. We welcome the strongest into our ranks and try to educate the weaker of our kind. We can't have anyone using his or her powers for evil, though it does happen sometimes.

The King summoned me and the other soothsayers to talk to The Visitors. It was a very interesting session. The Grand Master explored the minds of The Visitors and found that what they said was all true and that their intentions were pure. The Visitors were fascinated by what we could do. We gave them a small demonstration of our powers at their request. That's when they revealed their reason for coming here.

They're looking for help. They say their planet, Coruscant, is under attack. Their silvery thing (A "space ship" is what they call it) is the first of its kind and The Visitors used it to try and find other planets with people willing to help them. Their navigation computer and a thing they call a hyper drive are still very inaccurate, though, and they went further than they planned to. They asked us if we would help them. It took two months of deliberation, but we finally said yes.

So here I am, on their space ship, writing all this out for future generations. Generations that will be born on this planet, Coruscant, because The Visitors have informed us that we may never go back home. I'm all right with that, though. I had no family left back on Earth. I see this as an opportunity. I know there may be a bloody war ahead of us, but I'm hopefully that I can survive. Their planet has seen nothing like us before. We certainly have the element of surprise.

If I survive and have the time, I will write more, but now I must prepare for battle. We are arriving on the planet. I pray for my deliverance and the deliverance of the people we have now sworn to protect.


	2. Ch 1: No Man's Land

The frigate's bridge was quiet as usual, save for the occasional clank of metal against metal as the droid pilots went about their business. Outside the large windows was the swirling vortex of light that made up hyperspace. At the head of the bridge, watching with concealed impatience and anxiety was the frigate's captain. It had been a very long week for her. There was a stalemate in the war at the moment, but that wasn't what was weighing on her mind.

_"You're late, Asajj."_

_"My apologies, Master. I was held up."_

_"This is not the day for being late. Something has come up. Something bigger than the Clone War."_

That had caught her off guard. She had been expecting a report about the war effort. She was expecting to be told that they'd lost a planet or a base. She'd been expecting to be sent out to assassinate someone or steal something of importance to the Republic. She'd been expecting to be sent out on the front line. Well, she was, but not in the way she'd been expecting.

_"Our foothold is slipping. We need every advantage we can get, Ventress. In order to find these advantages, Lord Sidious proposed that we search farther than our own galaxy. He sent out probes into the far reaches of the galaxy six months ago. Past the Wild Space and into the fringe of another galaxy entirely._

_"We've found a planet. A planet with sentient life. More probes were sent out over the course of a few months to collect data about this planet, and our findings have been…most incredible. These people are all humans. We've compared the DNA of the humans in this galaxy with the DNA of the humans on this new planet, and found that the DNA is nearly identical save for a few mutations and variations. Our scientists are wondering if these new humans aren't the origin of the humans we have here. And there's…something else, but I will give you the information about that later. _

_"I want you to go to this new planet and investigate. We need a log of all the plants, animals, technology, and people on the planet. I'm sending our best scientists and medical droids with you. I want test subjects, as well. Fifty will do. This may be the key to winning the war."_

_"Does this planet have a name?"_

_"Its inhabitants call it 'Earth.' Now go. Do not disappoint me."_

That was that. Now here she was, commanding a fleet of ships on her way to a planet millions of light years away. She was trying not to be bitter about the whole thing. She wasn't a scientist. She wasn't a diplomat. She wasn't an explorer. She was a warrior, and she should be out there fighting the war. Somewhere Republic ships were blasting their frigates out of the sky. Somewhere their troops were being turned into scrap as the Republic fought to take back an occupied planet. Somewhere she was needed and she was stuck here.

Dooku had his reasons though. Those reasons, however, only made her angrier. Despite what he might have her believe, Asajj knew that she was being sent away from the battle field so she couldn't mess anything up. She admitted that she didn't always win the battles, but that was hardly her fault. Battle droids were stupid and the Jedi were always getting in her way. She was growing stronger, though, and one day soon she wouldn't have to rely on the help of useless battle droids.

"Mistress, we're coming out of hyperspace,"

Asajj's was pulled out of her thoughts by the voice of one of the droid pilots. She looked out the window as the stars came back into focus. Then the ship came to a halt. She couldn't help but feel a little excited as her eyes landed on the new planet. It was nothing special, but it was still new. Still a mystery. She turned to the tactical droid lurking about nearby.

"Prepare a landing party," she said, "Send the scientists to the surface. We have to be careful about this. There is no room for error. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mistress," the droid said. Then it turned and walked out of the bridge to carry out her instructions.

Asajj turned to the pilot droids,

"Hide us behind the moon and wait for further orders."

"Yes Mistress."

As the ship drifted behind Earth's barren, gray moon, Asajj began formulating a plan in her head. Dooku had given her instructions to be quiet and stealthy. He didn't want her causing a spectacle. They still weren't sure what kind of communications the people of Earth had. They didn't know what kinds of weapons or space craft they had. They couldn't risk upsetting the humans before it was time. Asajj wasn't happy about it, but she would do as her Master said.

_Let the games begin._

* * *

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming on such short notice. Now if everyone could settle down, I'd like to begin this meeting."

Ahsoka stood with the other Padawans on the fringe of the briefing room. She looked at the other Jedi who had gathered in the room which was feeling more and more crowded by the minute. She watched members of the Jedi Council as they gathered around the large holoprojector. Some of the members were here in person, while others were being beamed into the room via hologram. She spotted Obi-Wan standing with the crowd. She found Anakin in the mess as well, but he didn't look at her. Everyone was too focused on Master Windu as he manipulated the holoprojector controls.

"Yesterday our intelligence in the Outer Rim sent us this recording of a Separatist fleet jumping into hyperspace. They calculated their trajectory and found something unusual."

Master Windu brought up the recording and let it play before changing the image to a map of the galaxy. The image shrunk to accommodate the images of three other galaxies rotating close by.

"If our calculations are correct, the fleet was heading out into the Wild Space and beyond."

He pointed to a flashing red spot at the edge of one of the other galaxies,

"We've tracked them to this point, and it would appear they've jumped to another galaxy entirely. They haven't moved for about a day now, so we're assuming that is their final destination."

"What are they doing in a different galaxy entirely? The war is _here_," Ahsoka whispered to another Padawan standing next to her. He just shrugged. They both looked back at the holoprojector as Master Windu continued.

"We sent out a scout ship a couple of days ago to gather more information, but they've disappeared. They were only able to send one transmission," he said. He pressed another button on the holoprojector and a projection of a clone scout appeared.

"Generals, we've reached our destination. The Separatists have a large fleet of frigates, but that's not the worst part. There's a planet, sirs. A new planet. The Seppies are hiding behind its moon. We've seen them send shuttles down to the planet's surface. We've done scans for lifeforms and we think the planet is inhabited. We also think that this planet may be more primitive than the planets we're used to seeing, but we're going to go in and get a closer look. Over and out."

Then the transmission ended. Master Windu looked back at the crowd,

"We have to assume the worst," he said.

"So the Separatists are invading a planet in a completely different galaxy? What could they possibly hope to gain from that?" Anakin asked.

"We're not sure," Master Windu said, "But we have a few theories. They may want to establish an outpost somewhere they feel is beyond our influence. They might want to set up new droid foundries, or mine new resources. Like I said, our scout ship has gone missing so we don't have more information than what they've already sent."

"That's an entirely different galaxy, though! Outside both the Republic and the Separatists. They have no right to invade them!" Anakin protested.

"I know, Skywalker," Master Windu said, giving the younger Jedi an annoyed look, "Which is why we're going to try and drive the Separatists out. I've called this meeting to look for volunteers to go to this new planet. We'll need people to fight the Separatists and drive them out, but the Chancellor has also requested that we bring a few scientists with us to catalog information about this new planet. We've put together a fleet of three Star Destroyers and a light cruiser to accommodate the scientists. Attack shuttles will be sent down to the planet's surface to make sure nothing tries to invade. We will not get involved in the affairs of this planet unless it is absolutely necessary. Whoever goes down there will have to lie low and avoid coming in contact with the locals. Is that understood?"

There were a few nods and murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

"Good. Now who is willing to join the mission?"

Hands went up, Ahsoka among them. She wouldn't pass this up for the world. How many Padawans got the chance to explore a new planet? She couldn't help but smile when she saw that Anakin and Obi-Wan's hands had gone up as well.

Master Windu took a count of the volunteers,

"Very well," he said, "Would all volunteers come to the front of the room? The rest of you may continue on with your business."

Ahsoka made her way over to the holoprojector as the briefing room began to clear out. She walked up next to her master, and was about to say something when Master Windu began to speak again.

"Master Yoda and I will be commanding the fleet, but we need someone aboard the light cruiser to keep an eye on things. Then we need at least two people to join a small squad of clones on each shuttle," he said.

"I'd love to see what the planet looks like on the surface, but if we're going to be bringing scientists along on the Chancellor's orders, perhaps I should command the light cruiser," Obi-Wan said.

Master Windu nodded and looked at the others,

"Well, that's settled. Now who will be manning the shuttles?" he asked.

"Master Secura and I will take a shuttle," said Master Gallia.

"And Master Tiin and I," Master Fisto said.

"My Padawan and I can man a shuttle," Anakin said. Ahsoka smiled.

It didn't take long to put together the pairs who would take the shuttles to the surface.

"Alright. Tomorrow morning you're all going to get aboard your designated cruisers. From here it'll take a few days to reach this new planet, even going through hyperspace," Master Windu said.

"A few days? The Separatists could do a lot of damage to the planet in that time," Master Gallia said.

"I know, which is why we're hoping that they're taking a few days to scout out potential dangers on the planet's surface," Master Windu said, "It's a risk we're going to have to take. There's no way to get there any faster.

"Now, once we arrive, you'll have to be ready to leave immediately. You won't have long to get down to the surface. We have the element of surprise, but it won't take long for the Separatists to get organized. Find somewhere close to people to land, but not so close that you'll be noticed. We don't think that the Separatists will go for large cities. For once we think they'll take a more stealthy approach. From there, keep an eye on the people and send regular reports to the cruisers.

"Obi-Wan, since you'll be commanding the light cruiser, your primary concern is keeping the scientists in line. Allow them to do their scans from the cruiser, but don't let them go down to the planet's surface until we say so. They'll have to get information about the surface from the shuttles already down there. Does everyone understand their instructions?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Now go get some rest. Be ready to leave tomorrow morning."

And with that the meeting was adjourned. Ahsoka followed her master out of the briefing room.

"This is amazing! A whole new galaxy with a whole new planet," she said, "What do you think it's going to be like?"

"I don't know," Anakin said, "Since our scouts went missing, we don't have any information about this planet other than it's inhabited."

"I'm not sure how I'm going to sleep tonight," she said.

"You'll just have to be patient," he said.

"I feel bad for Master Kenobi. You know how scientists can be when they get excited," she said.

Anakin laughed a little,

"I know, but if anyone can handle a group of excited scientists, it's Obi-Wan," he said.

"Did someone say my name?"

Anakin and Ahsoka turned around as Obi-Wan came up behind them.

"Yes. We were just discussing your new job as a scientist-sitter," Anakin said.

"Very funny," Obi-Wan said, "But someone has to do it. Though I'm not sure why Chancellor Palpatine is sending scientists with us in the first place. They'll only slow us down. If the Chancellor wants information about the planet, he could just send a ship in after the Separatists are no longer a threat."

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Anakin said.

"Oh, I don't doubt that he has reasons, I just wonder what those reasons are," Obi-Wan said.

There was a moment of silence which Ahsoka was quick to break,

"Well, I suppose we should go get ready to leave in the morning. I'm going to go get something to eat. You're welcome to join me."

As they headed off towards the Temple cafeteria, Ahsoka couldn't stop thinking about this new planet. What was its name? What were the people like? The plants? The animals? Was it volcanic with lots of mineral resources? Was it technologically advanced with new weapons to trade? What did the Separatists want with this little planet?

_I guess I'll have to wait and see. _


	3. Ch 2: Into the Storm

Spending days cooped up in a star cruiser was giving Ahsoka cabin fever. There wasn't anything to do on board except for practice her saber technique with anyone willing to fight her. When she got tired of that, she spent her time dismantling pieces of her star fighter and putting them back together again.

"I'm turning into my master," she muttered on her second day on board the ship as she tampered with the power converters. Engine grease had worked its way under her fingernails and she knew she had at least ten minutes of scrubbing her hands ahead of her. Once she was satisfied that she'd put the piece back together correctly, she crawled under the ship to put it back in place.

"At it again, Snips?"

She scuttled out from under the ship and looked at Anakin,

"I'm bored. What else am I supposed to do?" she asked.

"Good point," he said, "Artoo and I are on our way to check out the shuttles and make sure everything is working properly if you'd like to join us."

Ahsoka spotted R2 standing next to Anakin, "Hey there, Artoo."

The little droid beeped happily.

"Sure," Ahsoka said, "I'm getting tired of dismantling and putting back together the same pieces of this stupid ship over and over again."

They headed across the hangar towards where a few of the shuttles were parked. These Nu-class shuttles had been painted various shades of dark, drab gray just for this mission. The Republic logos were still there, but now the ship would hopefully attract less attention.

"So, Master, what is it we need to do?" Ahsoka asked.

"Well, for starters, I'm going to take a look at the internal components. You can do system checks for me up in the cockpit," Anakin said.

"You're the boss," she said, "Come on, Artoo."

They spent the rest of the day going from shuttle to shuttle, doing the same system checks on each one. If they found a problem, they fixed it and went on their way. It wasn't the most entertaining thing, but it was something to do.

"By the time we're done with this, I'm going to know these shuttles so well so if we crash, I'll be able to make an entirely new ship out of the pieces," Ahsoka said as they moved on to their last shuttle.

"I'd like to see you try," Anakin said, "Even I'm not _that _talented. You should pay special attention to this one, though, because this shuttle is ours."

They approached the lowered boarding platform, but before they could climb up into the ship they heard someone call for them.

"General Skywalker! Commander Tano!"

They turned around and saw Captain Rex coming towards the shuttle with six other troopers in tow.

"Hey Rex," Anakin said, "What's up?"

"Are you two finished doing the system checks for the shuttles?" Rex asked, "We were just going to begin loading the cargo."

"This is the last one," Anakin said, "The others are ready to go."

"Very good, sir," Rex said, "Also, I thought now would be a good time to introduce you to the troopers who will be coming with us to the surface. This is Red, Comet, Jacker, Peak, Dusty, and Mellow."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sirs," Dusty said. The trooper saluted.

"At ease, soldier," Anakin said. He looked at Rex, "Well, I suppose we should let you get on with your work, Rex. Thanks for stopping by."

"You're welcome, sir," Rex said, "We'll be arriving in four hours."

* * *

"All personnel to their stations. We will be arriving in ten minutes. Repeat. All personnel to their stations. We will be arriving in ten minutes."

Ahsoka hurried through the halls towards the main hangars. She'd spent most of the past four hours helping the clones load the copious amounts of cargo into the shuttles, and had stopped to take a quick nap. It was the sound of the announcement that had woken her. She was glad for once that she wasn't a heavy sleeper.

When she arrived at the hangar, Rex and his squad were climbing up into the shuttle. The pilots were already there, prepping the engines. Anakin was standing outside, probably waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" he called as she came closer.

"Sorry, Master. I was just getting a little shut eye before we took off," she said.

"Get inside. We have to be ready to launch the minute we arrive," he said.

They went up into the belly of the ship, shutting the hatch behind them. Ahsoka sat down in her seat, and lowered the bar over her head, ready for takeoff.

"So where exactly are we going, sir?" Rex asked.

"The Northwest Hemisphere of the planet," Anakin said.

"Do we know anything about the climate?" Ahsoka asked.

"No. Which is why, included in the cargo, is gear for just about every climate," Anakin said.

"Takes up a lot of room, too," Red said, "We had to take out two speeder bikes to accommodate it and the food. This ship isn't built to carry so much cargo."

"It's better than taking a gunship, down there," Ahsoka said, "At least this makes a decent shelter. That and anything bigger than this would probably attract too much attention."

"I wonder what the people are like," Dusty said, "Didn't the scouts who came out here report that this planet hadn't achieved space travel yet?"

"The scouts only sent one transmission. They said that the planet appeared to be more primitive, but that's all," Anakin said.

"We don't know what we're going to find," Ahsoka said.

"If we're lucky this planet will be just a big dust ball with nothing worth defending," Red said, "Then we can all go home."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Anakin asked.

The ship began to rumble as the engines came to life.

"We're coming out of hyperspace," came the pilot's voice over the intercom, "Get ready for a bumpy ride."

As the cruisers came out of hyperspace, the main hanger doors opened up. The shuttles lifted off the hangar floor and unfolded their wings. One by one, the shuttles flew out of the cruiser and into the void of space. Hiding behind the moon were several Separatist ships. Once they saw the Republic fleet, the frigates began to turn around. Canons fired as both sides started their attack.

Up in the bridge of the Republic's flagship, Master Windu began barking orders at the clones in charge of piloting the huge Star Destroyer.

"Tell Obi-Wan to get his cruiser out of here. Distract those frigates so the shuttles can get out of their range. Draw their fire," he said, "Then hide us behind the planet. We don't want to engage them just yet."

He turned to look at the shuttles retreating towards the blue and white surface of the new planet.

"May the Force be with them," he muttered.

The shuttle rattled as shells from the Separatist frigates exploded around it. Every time the shuttle turned, Ahsoka was thrown against the bar holding her in the seat.

"At this rate, we'll be landing on the surface as scrap!" she said.

"Just hang on, Snips. We're almost out of range," Anakin said.

A few moments later, as if on cue, the shaking began to decrease until they were flying smoothly.

"See. What did I tell you?" Anakin said.

"We're coming up on the Northwestern Hemisphere," the pilot said, "We've run a quick life form scan and I think we've found a good spot to land. There's a good sized town nearby, but it's not a large city, and there's enough wilderness around it for us to hide in. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Is the atmosphere breathable?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, sir. The climate is cold and humid, so I'm predicting that there'll be snow on the ground when we get there," the pilot said.

"Then I guess we'll have to get our parkas out," Anakin said, "Thank you."

"Yes, sir."

"Snow. Great," Ahsoka said, "Where did we put the cold weather gear?"

"I think it's in the boxes near the middle of the cargo hold," Rex said, "It should be labeled."

"I'll start unpacking it," she said. She lifted the bar back over her head and stood up.

"Ahsoka, wait until we land," Anakin said.

"Relax, Master. I don't think we'll find any more trouble all the way down here," she said. She pressed a button on the wall in the back and a hatch slid open. She walked into the cargo hold and began rummaging through the boxes. She found her own parka and put it on. She found a pair of goggles in the pocket and decided to put those on as well, just in case. It didn't take her long to find everyone else's stuff. There was a muffled _Thunk!_ as the ship touched down. Ahsoka picked up one of the boxes and brought it out into the main compartment.

"Alright boys, you get your gear together. I'm going to have a look outside," she said.

"Be careful," Anakin said.

"Don't worry. I won't go far," she said.

She walked out into the short hallway before the boarding ramp just as the pilots were coming down out of the cockpit.

"Be careful out there," one of them said, "The wind is really picking up."

"I'll be fine," she said. She pressed the button to lower the ramp. The minute the ramp began to move there was a blast of cold air and tiny white snowflakes. She looked out into the darkness and swirling wind for a moment before walking carefully down the ramp. Once she was beyond the safety of the shuttle, the wind slammed into her. It threw her a little off balance, but she regained her footing quickly.

_I'm glad I decided to wear the goggles, _she thought.

She looked around, trying to pick out objects in the shadows. The only light she had was the light coming from the shuttle behind her. She could just make out the base of something tall. Tree trunks, maybe? It wasn't any tree she'd ever seen before, but she didn't have any better ideas. Snow crunched under her feet as she wandered further away from the shuttle. She drew her lightsaber and ignited the blade. The pale green light it gave off wasn't the best, but it was something. She held it up to a tree and looked up at the branches. The leaves were thin like needles and they grew in clumps. Some branches were scraggly without any of these strange leaves at all. It reminded Ahsoka of skeletons. She ran her fingers along the trunk. The bark was brittle and came off easily. She broke off a piece and looked at it for a moment before putting it on her pocket. She sheathed her lightsaber and climbed back into the shuttle.

She walked into the main compartment as the clones finished donning their helmets. Everyone was dressed for winter, even the pilots.

"Well, the wind is strong out there and there's snow everywhere, but I don't think there's any immediate danger," she said, "If you want you can come have a look. It's pitch black out there. My lightsaber just doesn't cut it as a flashlight."

She paused and reached in her pocket. She pulled out the piece of bark she'd broken off a tree.

"Also, do any of you recognize this? I broke it off of what looks like a tree. I'm just wondering if there are any species of plant life here that might be in our galaxy as well."

"It's unlikely," Anakin said, "Let me see that."

He took the piece of bark from Ahsoka and looked at it for a moment,

"No. I don't think I've ever seen bark like this," he said, "Rex?"

"Sorry, sir," Rex said, "I don't think so."

"Just an idea," Ahsoka said, "Now come on. Let's have a look."

The group walked out of the shuttle and into the wind, one by one. The clones switched on the lights on their helmets and walked towards the trees. Now that the area was better lit, Ahsoka could see that they were in the middle of a forest. The snow obscured many of the details, but she could still see that they were surrounded by tall trees.

"We picked a good night to land!" she called over the wind.

"We won't be able to see anything in this blizzard. We should probably wait until morning and hope that the wind has died down by then," Anakin said.

"Agreed," Rex said.

"Alright everyone, back in the shuttle. Let's get a little sleep while we can," Anakin said.

Ahsoka nodded. She was a bit disappointed, but she wasn't going to argue. Her master was right. They wouldn't find anything in this storm. She wasn't sure she would be able to sleep though. There was so much out there to see. She could sense so many different life forms in the forest beyond. She sighed and followed everyone else into the shuttle. She shut the hatch behind her and walked back into the main compartment.

Now that she knew they'd all have to sleep in here, the ship suddenly looked very small.

"How are we all going to fit in here?" she asked.

"With some…difficulty," Anakin said, "We'll figure out something more comfortable later, but for now, everyone should spread out. Some of us can sleep in the cargo hold if there's room."

"There's space between boxes. It's a tight squeeze, but it's space," she said.

"Dusty, Peak, and I can sleep in the hold tonight, sir," Red said.

"So that means we'll have to fit…eight more of us in here," Ahsoka said, "I could sleep in the hallway below the cockpit. There's just enough room there."

"Great. It's settled then. Grab a sleeping bag. We'll start exploring the area in the morning," Anakin said. He tossed Ahsoka a roll. She caught it and smiled,

"See you in the morning, Master," she said, "Sleep well. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."


	4. Ch 3: Oddities

**The new cover image is now up. :) **

Ahsoka was the last to rise that morning. She woke up feeling stiff. Her arm had fallen asleep after a night of functioning as her pillow. She stood up and groaned as she stretched. She began to work the kinks out of her neck. She heard a hiss as the hatch to the main compartment opened up.

"Sleep well?" Anakin asked.

"Not really," she said.

"Me neither," he said, "You hungry?"

"Military rations. Great," she said, following him into the main compartment. He tossed her a ration stick. She sat down to eat and listen as they went over the plan for the day.

"Today our main objective is to cover as much ground as possible. We need to determine if droids are in this sector. We also need to establish which species here are dangerous and which species we can ignore. We also need to find out what sentient species live here, but we should keep contact minimal," Anakin said, "Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," the clones replied.

"Good. But first we need to establish communication with the cruisers. If we run into trouble we don't want to try and call for help only to discover our communications are down. Everyone will also have a backpack with food, water, and other necessities in case anyone gets lost. Now Rex, you and Ahsoka can cover the area north of here. Take Dusty, Red, and Mellow with you. Peak, Comet, Jacker, you're with me. We'll go to the south. Pilots, stay with the ship and establish contact with General Kenobi and General Windu," he said, "Everyone keep your com channels open. Let's move out."

Everyone grabbed their packs and headed outside into the snow.

Outside in the daylight, the forest was far more impressive. Ahsoka stopped a moment to take it all in. The sun was out and the clouds were gone. Light reflected off the snow, making it sparkle. Snow hung off the tree branches and coated the ground. The snow was nearly up to Ahsoka's knees as she began walking further away from the shuttle.

"It might be cold, but it sure is pretty," she said.

"Maybe, but it's going to take us forever to get anywhere in this," Rex said, shaking snow off his boots.

"Hopefully those trees blocked some of it and it won't be as bad in the forest," Ahsoka said. She turned to look at Anakin, "When should we meet up again?"

"Meet back at the shuttle in…three standard hours," Anakin said, "We can report our findings then."

"Gotcha," she said, "Good luck, Master."

"You too, Snips," Anakin said, "Alright, men. Let's go."

Ahsoka watched as the group went trekking off into the snow. She looked at Rex.

"Well. Here we go," she said.

She turned around and led her group in the opposite direction. It was slow progress in the deep snow, but it wasn't as difficult once they got close to the trees. Misty clouds swirled around Ahsoka's head when she breathed out, and she was glad to have her parka in this weather. Every so once in a while she heard fluttering and saw small winged creatures climbing the bark of the trees. They looked harmless enough, so she ignored them.

"Commander. Come take a look at this," Dusty said. The clone stopped and crouched down in the snow to look at something.

"What is it?" Ahsoka asked. She walked over to him.

"Tracks," Dusty said, "They look like they're going in the direction we're headed."

Ahsoka crouched down and touched her finger tips to the deep tracks in the snow. The track was divided into two drop shaped halves. It looked to her like a hoof.

"I don't think it's anything to worry about. It looks like whatever made this is a hoofed animal. Those are generally herbivores. And the tracks are pretty small," she said, "Let's keep going. Everyone should stay alert though."

They followed the tracks through the forest as the ground began to slope upwards. Ahsoka wondered if they would find the creature that made the tracks or if it was long gone. She figured it had to be nearby, or the wind would have blown the tracks away last night. As they neared what looked like the top of the slope, she saw movement up ahead.

"Guys, stop," she said quietly, holding her hand out, "Look. Up there."

Red pulled a pair of binoculars out of his backpack and looked through them.

"Oh I see it. It's some kind of animal. Not very big," he said. He passed the binoculars to Ahsoka, "Here. Have a look."

Ahsoka looked at the creature through the binoculars. It was a mousy brown color and had four legs. Its large ears were standing straight up as it stared at them. It was frozen for a moment before wandering off over the slope.

"Harmless," Ahsoka said, "See? What did I tell you? Let's keep going."

She passed the binoculars back to Red and continued on to the top of the slope. She stopped a moment to survey the area below. Below them was a valley of some kind. The trees below were just as heavy laden with snow as the rest, and they seemed to stretch on for miles. On the horizon were short, jagged peaks.

"Seems we've landed in some of the planet's more rugged terrain," Rex said.

"Looks like it. It's going to be a pain to explore," Ahsoka said. She looked at the area directly below them and spotted something that unsettled her. A plume of faint gray smoke was drifting up out of the trees. When she looked closer, she could just make out what looked like a brown roof. She frowned and looked further away. She saw a similar plume of smoke in the distance.

"Not good," she said, "There's smoke, which means people."

"It's a good thing we arrived the night we did, then," Mellow said, "Or they would have spotted us for sure."

"Should we go down and have a look?" Dusty asked, "Or should we turn around?"

Ahsoka thought about it for a moment.

"Master Skywalker said that we needed to find out who lived here," she said, "Since it doesn't look like there are too many people here, this might be a good opportunity to do just that. I say we take a quick look, then turn around."

"Sounds good to me," Dusty said.

With that, the group started off down the snowy slope towards the smoke.

* * *

"Myra, are you coming?"

"Nico, I told you. I'm too old for sledding now,"

Nico frowned,

"You're no fun. Ever since you started high school you've just gotten boring," he said.

His sister rolled her eyes,

"I'm growing up, Nico. I don't have time for silly games, alright?"

"Yeah, because you're _so _busy texting your friends," he said.

"Look, if you want to go sledding by yourself, fine," she said, "But I'm not coming with you."

"But…ugh. Never mind," he said.

The blonde boy huffed and walked to the back door of their house. He pulled the door open and went tramping out into the snow, grumbling to himself.

"Stupid, Myra and her stupid friends. No one does anything with me anymore," he muttered.

He walked out to the shed and began rummaging around for his sled. He found it stashed in the back next to the mower and the sacks of garden soil. He pulled it out and shut the shed doors. He grabbed the sled by the rope in the front and went off towards the sledding hill behind the house. He wished that they'd had a hill like this back when they lived in town. Then all his friends could have come over to sled behind the house. Now it was just him and the neighbors whose house they couldn't even see through all the trees. They didn't have any kids either. A fat lot of good that did him.

As he approached the hill he saw a deer bounding down the slope. He stopped to watch it as it darted off towards the road. He wondered for a moment what it was running from, but he didn't dwell on it long. He stopped at the base of the hill and looked up through the one straight gap in the trees at the top. He sighed. It was fun to sled down, but a pain to climb back up. He started hiking up the hill along the edge of the trail, thinking sad and angry thoughts to himself.

Once he reached the top of the hill, he stopped to look out across the snow covered valley. Well, one advantage to living in the middle of nowhere was how beautiful it was. During summertime he and Myra liked to come up here and look at the stars. They certainly couldn't do that in town. He started to position his sled at the top of the hill when he noticed something odd in the snow a few yards away. Still pulling his sled along, he walked over to the imprints in the snow.

"Footprints?" he murmured to himself. He crouched down to get a better look. There were several sets of footprints in the snow. Most of them were fairly large with prominent treads like hiking or combat boots. The only set that stood out was a pair of smaller, daintier footprints that probably belonged to either a child or a girl.

"That's weird," he muttered. No one ever came up here. This was private land. Sometimes they had hikers, but they always turned around when they saw the house. These prints went down the slope towards it. Nico frowned. He wondered if he should follow the prints or go back and tell his parents. The smart thing to do would be to go home, but Nico was of the curious sort. He was never content with letting other people handle things.

Still dragging his sled behind him, he started to follow the tracks down the hill. As he drew closer to the source of the trail, he started to hear voices. He stopped a moment to listen, but he couldn't pick out any distinct words. Now he knew he had to be more careful. He started walking in the tracks, trying to be as silent as he could. He stopped and darted behind a tree when he saw something move up ahead.

"It's too quiet. Don't you think if there were people here we'd hear them?" came a deep, rough voice.

"As far as we saw, there were only two houses in this valley. I doubt they'd be outside in weather like this," came another voice. At least, Nico _thought _it was someone else. The voices were nearly identical.

Then Nico spotted them. Seven people it looked like. All in strange white suits. No wonder he hadn't spotted them immediately. They blended in pretty well with the snow.

"How close are we now, do you think?" one of the men asked, also in the same gruff voice. Or it could have been the same guy as before. Nico couldn't really tell.

"Close, Red. Just keep your eyes open,"

Now this voice was new. It was distinctly female. That would account for the smaller foot prints, though he couldn't see who had made them. She was probably at the front of the group, hidden behind the seven guys. Nico frowned. So what was this? Some kind of hunting party? Was this some kind of camouflage that he'd never seen before? He wanted to go out and ask who they were and what they were doing in his backyard, but he remained hidden. He wasn't able to gather up the courage to say anything.

_I really should go find Mom. Or Myra. _

The strange group started to move away. Nico stayed put, debating. To follow or not to follow? If he didn't follow them, he would lose them in the forest. If he lost them, there was no point in going to find his mom. He started forward again, suddenly hyper aware of every sound he made. He started to panic a little as they came up on a small ditch in the ground. He darted behind another tree and watched as they climbed down into the ditch and back out.

Now he could see the girl at the head of the group. She wore a long blue and white parka with a strange hood. It was much bigger than a normal hood and it looked like she had horns or something underneath. He dismissed this though. There had to be an explanation. She was probably just wearing some weird hat or helmet underneath the hood.

As the strange group started to move away from him. Nico hurried forward again. He started to climb down into the ditch, praying that they wouldn't turn around and see him out in the open like this. Then the group stopped. Nico froze.

"We're not alone," the girl said.

Her statement startled him so much he forgot the sled rope in his hand. He jerked his hand forward and the sled came with it. It slid clumsily down the slope and the plastic clattered against some dead bushes before reaching the end of the rope. Nico winced. Then every one of the strange people turned around and looked right at him. Nico's eyes widened. He let go of the sled's rope, letting it slide all the way to the bottom of the ditch, and ran.

"Hey! Wait!" he heard the girl call, "We're not going to hurt you."

Nico dove behind a large pine tree and froze there. His heart pounded against his rib cage. He took a deep breath and looked out from behind the tree. The group was even stranger from the front. It was clear now that all the men were wearing armor of some kind. At first he thought that maybe the military was doing an exercise in their yard until he saw the girl. Her skin was orange and she had strange white tattoos on her face. She did have something strange on her head, but it didn't look like any hat Nico had ever seen. If he looked closely, he could have sworn it was flesh. He wondered if he looked as pale as he felt.

"We're not going to hurt you," the girl repeated, "I promise."

Nico came out from behind the tree a little ways, but he remained tense and ready to run back behind it if need be.

"Who are you?" he asked, "What are you doing on our land?"

"We didn't mean to trespass," the girl said, "We're sorry. We won't be here long. What's your name?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me," he said.

"I'm Ahsoka," she said, "This is Rex, Dusty, Red, and Mellow."

"I'm Nico," he said.

"Nice to meet you, kid," the man Ahsoka had identified as Rex said.

"So…um…I don't mean to be rude, but…what's up with your face?" Nico asked.

Ahsoka looked mildly offended,

"It's my face," she said.

"Yeah, but why is it _orange_?" Nico asked.

"Why is your face pink?" she asked, "Why is your hair yellow?"

Nico scoffed,

"Come on. I've seen some people with pretty crazy tans, but I've never seen one that bad before that wasn't fake."

The man identified as Dusty looked at Ahsoka,

"Commander, I know you meant those as rhetorical questions, but I've been thinking the same thing," he said quietly, "This boy looks human. How can he be human if this is an entirely different galaxy?"

"Excuse me, what?" Nico said.

Ahsoka sighed,

"Nice one, Dusty. Thank you for complicating this further," she said. She took a deep breath and frowned as if she were trying to think of something to say, "Just forget about it. We'll be on our way now."

"I don't think so. You're not going anywhere until I get some questions answered," Nico said.

Ahsoka sighed,

"Look, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything. You're just going to have to accept it," she said.

Nico stepped fully out from behind the tree and glared at them.

"Not until I get some answers," he said.

Ahsoka frowned and held her hand up,

"You will let us pass, and you will not say anything about this to anyone," she said.

Nico stopped and blinked.

"I…I will let you pass and I won't…say anything…to anyone," he said. Immediately after he said it a billion questions flooded his mind. Why had he just said that? And why was he now walking away from these people back towards his house? It almost felt like he couldn't control it. What had that girl done to him? Finally he came to his senses and stopped just as he was passing the shed. He shook his head and balled his hands into fists. What on earth was he doing?

He turned around and started running back towards the ditch. When he got there, however, there was no sign of the strange people. They were gone.


	5. Ch 4: Relay

**This is not my favorite chapter nor is it a very long chapter, but I needed to bring Obi-Wan into this whole mess of characters because he and the scientists will be important later. That and I needed to put certain events in motion. So just bear with me here. We will return to the planet surface shortly. **

_Jedi slime. They can't leave well enough alone, can they? _Asajj fumed as she watched the Republic cruisers come out of hyperspace.

"Fire on those ships!" she ordered. However, by the time the order was carried out, the cruisers were already escaping behind the planet. Soon they were out of range. She frowned as she took a mental inventory of the ships. A fleet of cruisers, a light cruiser, and an arsenal of shuttles sent to the surface. They were all just more problems to deal with. At least the people on the planet below had been deemed mostly harmless. Now all they had to do was catalog as many animals and plants as they could as well as find the test subjects Dooku wanted. That would be more difficult now that the Republic had people on the surface.

She turned to the droid commander standing nearby.

"Commander, I want a ship sent down there now. Follow one of the shuttles. See what the Republic is up to. I won't have this mission end before it even begins," she said.

"Yes, Mistress," the droid said.

Asajj turned back towards the window, quietly fuming to herself. She hoped that Dooku wouldn't pick now to ask for a progress report, but as usual she had no such luck. A droid came running up to her.

"Mistress. Count Dooku wants an update on our progress," it said.

"Tell him I'm busy," Asajj said.

"Um the transmission is live in the communication's room right now," the droid said, "He's waiting for a reply."

"What?!" she turned and glared at the droid, "Next time he calls give me a warning! Useless droids."

She brushed past the droid and hurried off towards the communication's room. When she walked into the room, sure enough, a large blue hologram of Dooku was waiting for her.

"My apologies, Master," she said, "The droid did not inform me that you would be calling."

"Obviously," Dooku said, "Have you made any progress?"

"We have finished all the necessary scans and have determined that the planet is not an immediate threat to us. Their weapons are crude. Their technology is not as refined," she said.

"Good. We don't need another opponent in this war," he said, "And what of the test subjects I instructed you to collect?"

"I'm afraid I've been…delayed," she said.

"Delayed?"

"The Republic has followed me here. They've sent shuttles to the surface, likely filled with Jedi," she said, " I've sent ships to find them and see what they're up to."

"I should have known the Jedi would follow you," he said, "We can't let them jeopardize this mission. Do whatever is necessary to get the test subjects we need. If you have to kill the Jedi who interfere, so be it. However, they may prove themselves useful in finding the most gifted inhabitants."

"Yes Master," she said, "The Jedi will not stop me from completing this mission."

"I hope so," he said, "For you sake."

Then the hologram disappeared. Asajj took a deep breath and furrowed her brow with new determination. The Jedi would not best her this time. This time, she would be victorious.

* * *

"How's it coming, Crasher?"

The clone pilot looked up as his co-pilot called to him from outside the shuttle.

"It's coming along, Hawkbat. I've almost broken through the interference," he said, "The people on this planet have a lot of noisy signals flying around through the atmosphere. There are satellites up in orbit that are messing with the communications as well. I really hope that no one's been trying to contact us right now. Makes you wonder if everyone's comlinks are even working right now. I've never been to such a noisy planet."

"But you _can _break through the interference, can't you?" Hawkbat asked.

"Of course," Crasher said, "In fact, I think I've got it."

"Great. Let's try contacting General Windu," Hawkbat said.

"Got it. Just give me a minute."

Crasher fiddled with the controls on the com panel and after a moment it flickered to life. A hologram of Master Windu appeared on the panel. Crasher and Hawkbat saluted.

"Reporting for duty, sir," Crasher said, "Just checking to make sure the communications are working."

"Good work, trooper," Master Windu said, " We've got other calls coming in from the other shuttles as well. It seems everyone is accounted for. From now on, however, you'll be directing your calls to General Kenobi and the scientists. Unless it's to do with droid activity in your area, you'll want to talk to them. Otherwise, you should go to them for resupplying and reports on the planet itself. You're their only link to the surface besides the scanners, and those can't tell them much."

"Yes, sir. Will do, sir," Crasher said.

"May the Force be with you," Master Windu said. The transmission ended.

"Do you think we should check in with General Kenobi?" Hawkbat asked.

"That's probably a good idea," Crasher said.

He did some more fiddling with the controls and contacted the light cruiser. A hologram of a young Chiss girl appeared. She looked a little startled as if she wasn't used to receiving transmissions. She was wearing a white lab coat.

"Um, hello?" she said, "Can I help you?"

"Excuse me, miss," Crasher said, "We just need to talk to General Kenobi."

"He's up in the bridge. You called the labs we've set up down here," she said.

"If you could redirect us, that would be great," Crasher said.

"Of course," she said, "Just a moment. I'm not very good at using these controls. I've never actually been on a Republic cruiser before."

"I see," Crasher said. Hawkbat gave him an exasperated look, but Crasher ignored him, "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Ulpia'res'shia," she said, "But you may call me Aress if that is simpler."

"Yes, much simpler," Crasher said, "Thank you."

"Hey. You're one of those Chiss people, aren't you?" Hawkbat said, "I thought your people didn't like associating with outsiders."

"We are cautious, sir, yes, but that does not mean we do not associate with _moactan teel ,_" she said, "I chose to join this expedition as an intern. I am curious about this new planet."

Hawkbat gave Crasher a look that said, _"Get a load of this one._"

Crasher, again, ignored him.

"Have you got that holoprojector working, yet?" he asked.

"Yes, I think I've got it," she said, "Nice to meet you-?"

"Crasher. And this is Hawkbat," Crasher said.

"Yes," she said, "I'm transferring you now."

Then the hologram flickered and disappeared for a moment. When it reappeared it was Obi-Wan looking at them instead.

"Hello there," he said, "Anything to report?"

"Not yet, sir," Crasher said, "We're just making sure that the communications work."

"I hear you met one of our interns," Obi-Wan said.

"Sure did," Hawkbat said, "Those Chiss give me the creeps."

"Glowing red eyes are enough to unsettle anyone," Obi-Wan said, "Where are General Skywalker and Commander Tano?"

"They went out exploring, sir. They won't be back for a while," Crasher said.

"I see," Obi-Wan said, "Oh, before I forget, what is the climate there like? I've already been asked about it, and I had to tell them that I hadn't heard from you yet. Unfortunately I've found myself as a go-between for our shuttles and the scientists."

"It's cold and snowy here, sir. We're in some kind of forest. There are a lot of hills as well," Crasher said.

"Excellent. Thank you," Obi-Wan said, "Then if that's all, I suppose I should get back to the bridge."

"Yes, sir," Crasher said.

Then the transmission ended.

Obi-Wan watched as the image of the two clones flickered and died. Then he turned away from the holoprojector and walked back into the bridge.

"Anything to report?" he asked the pilot.

"Nothing so far, sir," he said, "The Separatists are leaving us alone, though the main cruiser just reported that they've sent a ship down to the surface. Everyone on the eastern hemisphere of the planet has been placed on high alert."

"I wouldn't be surprised if that ship is hunting for our shuttles," Obi-Wan said. He sighed, " We've got a long fight ahead of us."

"Who was contacting you?"

"The pilots of Anakin and Ahsoka's shuttle. They haven't run into any trouble yet, but I doubt it will stay that way for long," he said, "I'm going to go down to the labs. Contact me on my comlink if there are any new developments."

"Yes, sir."

Obi-Wan exited the bridge and made his way down to the level that had been converted into labs for the scientists' use. It was quiet in the rest of the cruiser, but it was humming with activity down there. Once he stepped into the main area, his senses were immediately bombarded with chattering voices and the smell of various chemicals. He was greeted by Aress.

"What could you possibly be experimenting on down here already?" he asked, looking at the scientists busy at work.

"We're scanning the planet for life forms and scanning the atmosphere to see what it is composed of," Aress replied, "We're also performing some control tests and collecting data to compare our samples with, when we collect them of course. We will be allowed to go collect sample, won't we General?"

"In due time, Aress," he said, "But we're not out of the woods yet. I've come with some information from the surface."

"Excellent!" Aress said, suddenly and uncharacteristically excited, "What about?"

"Climate, though I'm afraid the clones didn't give me very specific information."

"That's fine. It's better than nothing," Aress said, "Come with me. Okmor is in charge of documenting the various climates on this planet. He should be around here somewhere."

She led Obi-Wan into a room full of various monitors and scanners. Sitting among them was a Mon Calamari male in a white lab coat identical to the lab coats of the other scientists. He was studying the monitors and entering data into the system. He looked at Aress as she and Obi-Wan arrived.

"Ah! Aress! And General Kenobi. How nice to see you. Have you anything to report?" he asked.

"Yes. I have some information about the climate in the Northwest hemisphere," Obi-Wan said.

"Excellent! Do tell," Okmor said, sitting down in front of one of the monitors, ready to type in the data.

"Our troops on the surface report that the climate there is cold with precipitation in the form of snow. They said they are in some kind of forest and that they are surrounded by hills," Obi-Wan said, "I know it's not much to go on, but they weren't any more specific."

"Excellent. All data is good data, General. Don't forget that," Okmor said, "And which shuttle was that? It was the one at these coordinates here, correct?"

"Yes, that's right," Obi-Wan said, "If you need more information, I imagine you can contact them on the surface."

"Yes, I will, but later," Okmor said, "We must give them time to do a thorough investigation."

"Indeed," Obi-Wan said.

"Now what about the Separatists? What's going on out in space?" Okmor said.

"They aren't coming after us yet," Obi-Wan said, "But everyone in the bridge is on high alert. We aren't taking any chances."

"I do hope this matter is resolved quickly. There is only so much data we can collect from up here," Okmor said.

"I know," Obi-Wan said, "But this is only the beginning, Okmor. I'm sure there is worse to come."


	6. Ch 5: Tag-A-Long

**Sorry this took a little longer than normal. I hit a bit of a block, but I got over it. =P Enjoy! **

After his brain had fully wrapped around what had just happened, Nico sprinted back to his house as fast as he could in the thick snow. He put the sled away in the shed and raced up the icy back porch, nearly slipping and falling. He threw open the back door and ran into the kitchen, heedless of the snow he was tracking into the house.

"Myra! Myra you have to get out here! There's a…it's a…they…come on!" he spluttered.

"Oh for God's sake, Nico. What now?" Myra asked. She got up from the couch in the living room and walked into the kitchen. She groaned when she saw the water on the floor.

"Nico! Mom is going to kill you if you don't wipe this up!" she said.

"Never mind that!" he said, "Get your coat on and come on! If we don't hurry they'll be gone! They do that, you know."

"Who the heck is 'they'? Is this one of your stupid games again?" Myra asked.

"I don't know! You just have to come and see!" Nico said.

Myra groaned and grabbed her coat off the hook by the door and tugged on her shoes. Nico rolled his eyes,

"You're going to need snow boots, stupid," he said, "There's more than half a foot of snow out there."

"Shut up. I'm fine with these," Myra said.

Nico rolled his eyes again, but he didn't press the issue. He ran out onto the back porch again and out into the yard. He waited impatiently for Myra to follow him outside before sprinting out into the forest. He ignored Myra as she yelled for him to slow down. He kept running until he reached the shallow ditch. The foot prints of the strange people were still there. He turned and looked at Myra as she came up behind him.

"Look. See? There were these people here. These really weird people and we need to find out where they came from and what they want!" Nico said, pointing at the prints, "We need to follow these and catch them before they disappear!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is this 'we'?" Myra asked, "I'm not interested in-."

"We have _intruders _Myra! Literal illegal aliens!" Nico said, "Come _on!_"

Without waiting for her response he started to run alongside the prints, following them back up the hill. Myra continued to yell at him to slow down, but he ignored her again. He was totally focused on finding the strange orange girl and her white armored minions and asking them as many questions as he could before they ran off.

"They're not fooling me this time," he muttered to himself, "I'm going to find out what's going on here if it's the last thing I do."

* * *

As Ahsoka and the troops made their way back the way they came through the forest, she fiddled with her comlink, trying to contact Anakin. This was not good. They had to move the ship and find somewhere else to land as soon as possible lest the Earth boy come after them.

_Why won't this thing work? _She thought angrily to herself. Finally it broke through the interference.

"Master," she said, "We have a problem. You need to get back to the shuttle _now._"

"Why? Ahsoka, what is going on?" Anakin asked.

"We found a local. A persistent local. I had to use a Mind Trick on him to get him to leave, but I sense that he's not completely weak minded. It may wear off soon and when it does he'll be looking for us," Ahsoka said, "And there's something else. This kid was human."

"What? No, that's not possible," Anakin said, "Humans are native to _our _galaxy Ahsoka. This is an entirely different galaxy. How could a human boy be here?"

"I don't know, alright? But he sure looked human to me," Ahsoka said, "Whatever he is; we can't let him find us again. He might let everyone else know that we're here."

"Alright. We're on our way," Anakin said, "How far are you from the shuttle?"

"Not very far I don't think," Ahsoka said, "You?"

"Eh, we kind of ran into a ravine. A big ravine. It took us a while to get down one side and up the other. I'm not sure how long it'll take us to get back," Anakin said.

Ahsoka groaned.

"Master, of all the days…"

"Hey, it's not my fault. Maybe you can pick us up," Anakin said, "Just hurry. I'll send you our coordinates once we find a place the shuttle can land."

"Got it," Ahsoka said. She looked at Dusty, "Tell Crasher and Hawkbat to get the shuttle ready for takeoff." She looked at Rex, "Is anyone following us?"

"Not so far, sir," he said.

"Hey! You there! Wait!"

Ahsoka grimaced,

"I think you spoke too soon."

They stopped and turned around. The Earth boy, Nico, was just coming over the hill behind them. He looked out of breath, but determined to keep going all the same. He ran towards them, still asking them to stop. A moment later another person came over the hill. This time it was a girl with the same shiny blonde hair as the boy. Her eyes widened a little when she saw Ahsoka and the clones.

"Nico…" she said.

Nico stopped a few yards away from Ahsoka and the clones.

"I don't know what you did to me, or tried to do to me, but it isn't going to work," he said, "Don't try to tell me that you're filming a movie or something because I know a costume when I see one, and that is not a costume. You guys are aliens!"

"Oh for the love of God, Nico!" the girl behind him said, "They're not aliens! Aliens don't exist!"

Ahsoka looked at Rex,

"Any ideas?" she whispered.

"Sorry, sir," Rex said, "I'm fresh out."

"Run?" Red suggested. Ahsoka shot him a look. At that moment her comlink started beeping. Nico's eyes widened.

"What is that? Is that a bomb?" he asked, taking a few steps away.

"That thing, whatever it is, is too small to be a bomb," the girl said, standing next to Nico, "It's probably a prop for whatever weird sci-fi film they're making out here."

Nico scoffed,

"Yeah right. There aren't even any cameras, dumbo!" he said, "And just take a look at orange girl over there! Who around here knows how to do stage makeup like that?"

"Hey! Orange girl is standing right here, you know," Ahsoka said.

"You're an alien! You don't get the right of free speech around here, missy," Nico said.

"Nico, stop this!" the girl said.

"Commander, General Skywalker has sent us the coordinates," Rex said, "We need to get out of here now."

"Then maybe they're just freaks who like to parade around in the snow in costume. Maybe they're on their way to a convention," the girl continued.

"Oh for the love of Pete, Myra," Nico said, "Who takes a route through someone's back yard to a convention?"

"Fine, let's settle this then so maybe you'll see that there's a perfectly logical explanation for all of this nonsense," the girl said. She took a few steps towards Ahsoka and the clones, "Hi. Sorry about my little brother. Mom dropped him on his head when he was a baby."

"Did not!" Nico cried.

"Anyway. I'm going to humor him and ask the obvious question. What are you guys doing in our backyard? Are you shooting a movie?" she asked.

"If we say 'yes' will you leave us alone?" Dusty asked.

"Yes," Myra said.

"Then yes, we are," Dusty said.

"See?" Myra said, "Not aliens."

"Myra, you're such an idiot. Tell them to take off their helmets. I bet they're orange people too under their helmets," Nico said.

Myra groaned and looked at the clones,

"Do you mind? I'm really sorry about all this," she said.

Dusty looked at the others, shrugged, and took his helmet off.

"There. Happy?" he asked.

"What? Oh no, I don't think so," Nico said, "That's a pretty good human mask you've got on, but it's not going to fool me."

"Nico!" Myra said.

Rex sighed,

"Look, kid, we really don't have time for this," he said.

Ahsoka's comlink beeped again as Anakin's voice came through.

"Ahsoka, where are you? I've sent you the coordinates. If you take much longer we're just going to climb the ravine," he said.

"Not now, Master," Ahsoka hissed.

"What's wrong?" Anakin asked.

"Remember that problem I was telling you about earlier?" she asked, "It's that one."

"Oh. Great."

"Who is that?" Nico asked.

"That's really none of your business," Ahsoka said, "Now both of you, turn around and go back where you came from."

"No way! You're going to tell me what's going on," Nico said, "I want some answers."

Ahsoka took a deep breath. Now what? They couldn't go anywhere without taking care of this kid first, or he would go telling everyone he saw that they were there. She pressed the button on her comlink again,

"Master, I'm about to do something incredibly stupid," she said, "Sorry in advance."

"Wait, what? Ahsoka-."

She cut him off before he could continue.

"You want answers, kid?" she asked, "Follow us."

Nico looked at Myra,

"Awesome, let's go."

"We don't even know these people! We're not just going to follow them into the woods!" Myra said, "Since you seem so fixed on the idea that they're aliens, how do you know they're not just going to kill us?"

"If they were going to kill us they would have done it already," Nico said. He looked at Ahsoka and the clones as they started to walk off into the snow covered forest.

"Are you coming or what?" Ahsoka called back.

Nico looked at Myra and shrugged. He started running off after the group.

"Nico wait! Ugh!" Myra said. Then she ran after him.

"Commander, I don't think this is a good idea," Rex whispered to Ahsoka.

"Look, they're not going to leave us alone if we don't give them something, and this could be a good opportunity to find out what humans are doing here," Ahsoka said, "We can benefit each other and then hopefully we can park the shuttle somewhere else and be done with them."

"So where are we going?" Nico asked when he caught up.

"To our ship," Ahsoka said, "You asked for it, so I'm going to tell you what's going on."

"You have a _space ship?_ See Myra? I _told _you!" he said.

"But that's it, alright? I'm going to tell you the truth, but then you have to promise to leave us be and not tell anyone about us," Ahsoka said, "Got it?"

"Got it," Nico said.

Ahsoka looked at Myra.

"You too."

"Right, sure, I promise," Myra said. She rolled her eyes.

They traveled the rest of the way in relative silence. Once they emerged in the clearing where the shuttle was parked, Nico's eyes lit up. He stopped where he was and stared at the tall gray ship. He'd never seen any of the spaceships NASA sent up, let alone an alien space ship. It didn't look anything like what he imagined spaceships looked like, but then again he guessed movies about aliens weren't very accurate.

"Oh my God…" Myra whispered, "They weren't kidding."

It took a minute for Nico to get over his shock. When he did he sprinted after Ahsoka and the clones as they were walking up into the shuttle. He followed them up into the belly of the ship.

"Oh my gosh you're actually aliens!" he said, sounding completely ecstatic, "I'm in a space ship!"

He stopped and ran back down the hatch,

"Myra, come on!"

"No way!" she said, "I am _not _going in there. I'm going to go get mom. Or the cops. Or…"

"You already promised to stay quiet, kid," Ahsoka said from inside the shuttle, "And if you say a word we're going to have to do a little damage control."

Myra's face paled a little.

"Um…ok," she said. She followed them up into the ship.

Rex looked at Ahsoka,

"How? It's not like we prepared for this kind of thing very extensively," he whispered.

"Shh," she said.

They all filed into the main compartment. Nico stared at the inner workings of the ship, marveling at every little thing. Myra just stood as far away from everyone else as she could. She didn't say a word. She was still freaked out, and she wanted nothing to do with anything that was going on here. At that moment, Crasher came down from the cockpit and walked into the main compartment. He nearly ran into Myra who jumped. When she saw Crasher she let out a surprised scream and scurried away. Crasher jumped,

"What the-? What the heck is going on here? Who are these two?!" he asked.

"Locals," Ahsoka said, bringing a small holoprojector out, "Are we ready for takeoff?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Then let's get going. I trust Rex sent you the coordinates?"

"Um…yes, sir," he said. He walked out of the compartment, still very confused.

"Wait, we're leaving?" Nico said.

"You're kidnapping us!?" Myra cried.

"We'll bring you back after we've explained everything to you," Ahsoka said, "Also I think my Master will want to talk to you, and we have to go pick him up before we go anywhere. Have a seat."

The engines rumbled and the ship lifted up into the air. Nico sat down in one of the seats, practically bouncing up and down with excitement. Ahsoka turned on the holoprojector. It showed a map of their galaxy.

"As I'm sure you've gathered, we're not from your planet. We're from a different galaxy entirely. We're on your planet because you're all in danger from a group of people called the Separatists," Ahsoka said, "We're with a different group called the Republic and we've been fighting a war with the Separatists for a few years now. We're down here doing recon and trying to figure out what the Separatists are up to."

"So you've invaded the planet trying to prevent others from invading the planet?" Nico said.

"Not…exactly. We're not trying to invade your planet. We just want to help, and trust me on this, you can't fight the Separatists on your own," Ahsoka said.

"Judging by information our superiors have collected, we think your technology is pretty primitive, correct?" Rex asked.

Nico frowned.

"Define primitive."

"Have you achieved space travel or laser technology?" Rex asked.

"Well we sent guys to the moon," Nico said, "And they've launched lots of satellites and probes into space."

"Frequently?"

"Well…kinda…ish."

"Manned craft?"

"Well, no, not usually."

"That's considered primitive, kid," Rex said, "Sorry. And the laser technology?"

"Laser eye surgery!" Nico said.

"Weapons?"

"Well…no."

"My point exactly," Rex said, "You guys don't stand a chance."

"We have missiles!" Nico said.

"So do we, and Seppie frigates have shields to deflect things like that. Good luck getting those down if you can't even get into space easily," Rex said.

"Ok, fine," Nico said, "So you're here to help. So what I want to know is what kind of aliens are you? Can you shapeshift or something? Because when that other guy took his helmet off, he looked human."

Ahsoka and Rex looked at each other, wondering how much they should tell him. Would telling him that Rex and the others were human freak him out? Well, so far he'd seemed pretty cool about all of this.

"No, they're not shapeshifters," Ahsoka said.

"Was that a mask then?"

"No…"

"Holo…thingy."

"No," Ahsoka said, "Dusty and the others are all humans."

Nico stared at her,

"What? They can't be human. You guys are aliens!" he said.

"I know," Ahsoka said, "We're trying to figure this all out too. We actually have a fair amount of humans in our galaxy. Some might say they're the most abundant species."

"As far as we know, we're just like you, kid," Rex said, "But we'll have to send some DNA up to the scientists. They're in a cruiser orbiting the planet. Until we get results from them, we can't say anything for sure."

"There's _more _of you?" Nico asked, eyes wide, "And you have bigger ships?"

"Three _Venator_-class cruisers and a light cruiser," Rex said, "All armed to the teeth."

"And what about these Separatists you guys are fighting? What about them?" Nico asked.

"Four frigates as far as we can tell," Rex said.

"Wow. So..how come no one has notice you guys yet? I mean, don't you think the International Space Station would notice a bunch of ships orbiting the planet?" Nico asked.

"Well, they might have noticed us, but they might not be saying anything about it to the public," Ahsoka said, "I expect your government is having a meltdown right about now. Hopefully they're up there coming up with a plan to explain all of this to your leaders."

"Oh lovely," Nico muttered. He paused a moment and looked at the clones, "Hey can you guys take your helmets off again? I just wanna…you know, wrap my mind around this."

"Sure kid," Rex said.

He and the other clones removed their helmets. As soon as Nico got a good look at them all, his eyes widened.

"What the heck?! You guys all look exactly the same! Are you guys, like…quadruplets or something?" he asked.

Myra's eyes widened as well.

"I doubt it. What are the odds that quadruplets all join the military and get put in the same squad?" she asked.

"She's right. We're not quadruplets," Rex said, "Well, not in the way you're thinking at least. Every soldier in the Grand Army of the Republic looks like this. We're clones."

"_Clones?" _Nico said, "That is so cool! We've tried cloning things here on Earth, but all we've managed are sheep and maybe a dog. They won't let us clone humans. Everyone's like 'It's unethical!' but I don't really see what the problem is."

"Nico," Myra said.

He looked at her,

"What?"

Ahsoka was relieved when Crasher's voice came over the intercom so they were spared having to navigate through a touchy subject. She knew Rex wasn't really sensitive about the subject, but she wasn't sure about the others. Their bodies were all the same, but that didn't mean their personalities were.

"We're beginning out decent, Commander," Crasher said, "I can see General Skywalker and the boys down below."

"Very good, Crasher. Thank you," Ahsoka said. She took a deep breath, "Master Skywalker is going to kill me."

"Why?" Nico asked, "Who's this Skywalker guy?"

"He's my master, or my teacher if you prefer," Ahsoka said, "And technically we were supposed to keep contact with the people here at a minimum, but you two refused to leave well enough alone."

Nico's face turned pink,

"Oh, sorry," he said.

"It's ok," Ahsoka said, "I'm hoping that we'll be able to learn more about this planet from you. I don't think he'll stay mad at me for long."

There was a thunk as the shuttle touched down in the clearing.

"Alright, boys," Ahsoka said, "Let's go. We have some explaining to do."


	7. Ch 6: Fallout

**Sorry about the wait. Here's another short chapter. Don't worry, we'll be seeing more of Nico and Myra in the future. ;) I'll try to get another chapter to you guys more quickly than last time. I got the fourth season of The Clone Wars for Christmas, so hopefully that'll keep my muse up. Thank you to everyone who is following this story and to everyone who has reviewed. :D **

When Ahsoka exited the ship and walked out into the snow, the first thing she saw was Anakin and the other clones standing in the snow waiting for them. Anakin didn't waste any time asking her questions.

"Alright, Ahsoka, start explaining. What did you mean when you said you were going to do something incredibly stupid?" he asked.

Ahsoka took a deep breath,

"We ran into those locals again and they refused to leave us alone. I don't think Mind Tricks are going to work on them, so I decided to bring them along and tell them what was going on," she said.

"You _what?_ Ahsoka, of all the bone-headed ideas-."

"Just give me a second to explain!" she argued, "I figured if we left them to their own devices they would tell other people and try to figure this out by themselves. It's a lot less trouble just to tell them and make them promise to stay quiet."

"You don't know that we can trust these people!" Anakin said, "They're just a couple of strangers you met in the woods!"

"They're kids, Master! How much trouble could they be?"

"You just had to say that, didn't you? Kids are _always _trouble, Ahsoka. Kids are worse than adults!"

"Then what do you propose we do about this?"

"Take them back! We take them back to where they came from and book it out of her as fast as possible," he said.

"But Master, we could learn about this planet from them," Ahsoka said, "How else are we going to learn about the people? If we want to know about the creatures that live here, we have to interact with them. Maybe they can tell us what humans are doing here."

Anakin considered this. He was quiet for a few moments, mulling it over. Finally he sighed.

"Alright. Fine. We'll ask them a few questions about that. Maybe get a DNA sample to send to the cruisers. But once we're finished, they're gone. We can't stick around," he said.

"We won't regret this, I promise," Ahsoka said, "This could mean some very valuable information."

"I hope so," Anakin said, "Now where are they?"

"Inside the ship," she said.

"Oh. Great. Bring them out here," he said.

Ahsoka nodded and looked back towards the shuttle hatch.

"You guys can come out now!" she called.

Nico didn't hesitate to come running down the ramp, as if he'd been listening to the whole conversation. Myra was more timid and she didn't seem to want to come out at first. She came all the way down the ramp, however, with some coaxing from Nico. Nico planted himself front and center in front of Ahsoka and Anakin and saluted.

"Nico Barnett reporting for duty, sirs," he said.

Anakin gave Ahsoka a look. She gave him a look that said 'I don't know.'

"Master, this is Nico and Myra. Nico and Myra, this is General Anakin Skywalker," she said.

"Ooh, a general. Cool," Nico said, "Nice to meet you."

"Um, likewise," Anakin said.

"So you're a human too, huh?" Nico asked, "Geez, everyone here is human except for you, Ahsoka! This is so weird! Aliens who aren't aliens. Why is that?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Anakin said, "Now come on, we don't have time to waste."

He walked up into the shuttle with the rest of their squad. Nico looked at Ahsoka.

"Is he always like that?" he asked.

"Sometimes," Ahsoka said, "My master is a man of many faces. Come on."

They all walked back up into the shuttle. They all gathered in the main compartment again. Nico took a seat and looked at the others.

"So…what now?" he asked.

"You're going to tell us about this planet. As much information as you can," Anakin said.

"Um…" Nico hesitated, "Where am I supposed to start? I mean, there's a lot of stuff out there. I don't even know it all. Myra is in high school. She knows more than me."

"Nico!" Myra hissed, "Don't you dare drag me into this! I-."

"Well I'm not doing this by myself!" Nico said, "You've got to help me!"

"I don't even want to be here!" Myra said.

Anakin gave Ahsoka a look. He might as well have been saying 'fix it.' Ahsoka sighed.

"Guys, we don't really have time for this," she said gently, "We don't want to pressure you into doing something you don't want to do, but we don't know a thing about this planet. The more information we have-."

"Why do you even need our help, huh? Why don't you just pack up and get out of here?" Myra said, glaring at them.

"Because without our help your planet is going to be sacked!" Ahsoka said.

"We're not helpless you know!" Myra said, "We've got missiles and things. We can fight off whatever bozos are up there trying to take over."

"No, you can't," Ahsoka said, "Planets far more advanced that this one have fallen to the Separatists. Do you really think this world stands a chance? We're trying to help you!"

"And how do we know that you're not just going to try and take over once these Separatists are gone?" Myra asked, "How do we know that you'll leave?"

"We _will _leave," Ahsoka said, "But not if there's still a threat. You have to trust us."

"Well I don't!" Myra shouted.

A thick silence came over the room. After a moment Anakin pushed the button on the intercom,

"Hawkbat. Are we at the landing site yet?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Hawkbat said, "We're putting her down now."

Anakin looked at Myra and Nico,

"You two should go home. I apologize for the inconvenience," he said. He gave Ahsoka a look that said 'We'll talk about this later.' The ship touched down and the hatch opened. Myra gave the group one last glare before grabbing Nico's arm and dragging him out of the ship. The hatch closed behind them. Once they were a ways from the ship, Myra released Nico's arm.

"You just had to drag us into this!" she said.

"Myra, come on! We just met actually _aliens_!" he said, "And several of those aliens are humans! There's something big going on here! And you're just going to walk away and forget it ever happened?!"

"Yes, I am," she said, "Because we don't know what we're dealing with here. We are under attack by something we can't understand, Nico. We need to stay out of this and pretend we don't know anything. What if people come after us looking to see what we know?!"

"No one knows these guys are here!"

"You wanna bet? How could we miss it? A bunch of huge spaceships orbiting the planet? I doubt someone hasn't noticed yet," she said, "_We_ _don't know what they're up to._ How do we know everything they've said isn't a lie? Hm? You're so stupid, Nico! Your whole life you've been told about 'stranger danger' and now you're just going to go off with a bunch of aliens who we don't even know!"

Nico stared at her, his face a mixture of shock and hurt. He didn't say anything though; he only looked down at his shoes.

"Now come on," Myra said, "We're going home and we're staying there."

She turned and began trudging through the snow towards home.

"I'm not stupid," Nico muttered to himself, but he followed her anyway, kicking chunks of snow as he went.


End file.
